Cost Sharing

In general, cost sharing arrangements will fall into one of the following categories:

• Mandatory: Mandatory cost sharing is required by the sponsor, in writing, as a condition of receiving an award.  
• Voluntary Committed: Voluntary committed cost sharing is when items are quantified in the proposal without any sponsor requirement. This type of cost sharing requires DFR approval prior to proposal submission.
• Voluntary Uncommitted: Costs borne by Princeton but not detailed in the proposal or award budget, and not in response to a sponsor requirement.

Cost sharing should be accounted for in a proposal as follows.

Voluntary Committed

• The PI submits the cost sharing request to ORPA.
• ORPA reviews and submits the cost sharing request to the Office of the Dean for Research (DFR).
• If DFR approves, the PI and department follow the steps below for mandatory cost sharing.

Mandatory

• The PI creates a cost sharing plan.
• Department fills out cost sharing commitment forms and obtains chair and/or dean signature(s).
• For Provost, DFR, or third party in-kind support, or subrecipient sources, the department obtains cost sharing commitment letters.  
• Department uploads cost sharing commitment letters and forms into the Coeus narrative. If cost sharing is mandatory, department uploads the sponsor RFP or other written policy that cost sharing or matching is required. If cost sharing is voluntary and committed, department uploads written approval from DFR.
• Department enters mandatory cost sharing and voluntary committed cost sharing in the Coeus budget.
• The department routes the proposal to ORPA.
• ORPA reviews and submits the approved proposal to the sponsor.

The following should be considered at the award stage.

• If the commitment changed between the proposal and award stages, department updates the commitment forms and submits the form to ORPA.
• Department fills out the cost sharing budget form for the length of the entire award, regardless of how the sponsor funds the award, and submits the form to ORPA.
• ORPA sets up the award, including the cost sharing commitment, and cost sharing budget, in PS Financials.
• ORPA distributes the Notice of Award (NOA) to the department, SRA, and the PI.
• Receipt of the NOA is the trigger for the department to move department funds via Assignment Journal (exceptions: AR tuition and faculty AY salary).  
• ORPA initiates Assignment Journals for Provost or DFR funding.
• Department charges cost sharing.
• Department and SRA monitors cost sharing via reporting.
• At the expiration of the award, SRA verifies all cost sharing commitments have been met.  
• If the cost share commitment has not been met, SRA works with the Department to return funds to the sponsor.